Yes she does and she even has an addiction now. She has even helped to choose colors when painting scenery and stuff
My wife is not a train fan, but has always supported me in my work. I got lucky when she even painted some of my backdrops.
My wife has helped me in these ways: Helped trace backdrops Helped paint backdrops Attends trains shows Helped build my carts for my staging yard Learning to run trains Helping to choose colors for painting equipment as scenery Purchased supplies for me
My wife does not understand the hobby, but she does not oppose it either, she is supportive that I have a pastime hobby. Her hobby is bowling, which I support, but to be truthful, I'm not interested in bowling. For Christmas and my Birthday, I always get a gift card from the local hobby shop, plus rail fan videos. She does accompany me on tourist train adventures, but remains at home during local rail fan adventures.
I've seen a couple comments in here about money being part of the issue. My suggestion is - You Need A Budget! (http://www.youneedabudget.com) YNAB isn't just budgeting software, it's a money management philosophy. It truly has helped us pay off a good chunk of debt and increase our net worth considerably since we started using it last year. Aside from all our shared expenses my wife and I both have our own categories (with an equal budget) for fun/hobby/etc and there's no judgement on what we choose to spend it on. I can honestly say we haven't had a single argument about money in the last 14 months and we both feel like we have more money available to do the things we really want to do! Seriously, I'm a raving fan of YNAB and it's helped change our lives. Hit me up if you'd like to discuss it more.
Been married 50 years. She will go to train meetings, doesn't complain when I buy trains, but that's about as far as she goes.
I have seen both sides of the coin. My ex wife and her relatives didn't support my model railroading. "Grown men don't play with trains." Still, I was allowed to build a couple of layouts in both HO and N. My last relationship was with a woman that came across my boxes of model trains and encouraged me to start working on them again. Now that I'm single again, I'm enjoying "me time" with my hobbies.
My ex only tolerated it. But she was so bad in other ways that it dosen't matter anymore. Bill Pearce
You are more than just lucky to have a wife, spouse and/or significant other who will share in your enthusiasm for your toy train or model railroad. Hang on to those treasures as not everyone has been so lucky.
My fiancée has gone to a few shows with me including a few trips to Bedford where I tend to spend waaaayyy too much $. Came with me and railfanned 765 from Horseshoe Curve to Jeannette and enjoyed it, sends me texts about what trains she sees in Bradford and other places. She can identify B&P, WNY&P, and NS now. She isn't keen on helping build benchwork, but claims to be interested in models, trees, figures, and backdrops once I get that far. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
While I was married I guess my ex accepted that I had my hobbies and was glad I was doing something I enjoyed instead of hanging out at the bars with the guys. Of course I worked 7pm to 7am and she worked during normal business hours so not much time got spent on the railroad when we were home at the same time. Now the bicycle racing I did locally she was not a fan of. Probably because 2 ER bills pretty much negated any winnings I managed to scrounge up over 8 years of raching. Now the only person who seems to mind is my dog. He thinks I should be paying more attention to him and not the hobbies.
Well... I've had to change my answer from 'yes' to 'sometimes'... though 'no' is a possibility as well... I guess my wife would MUCH rather that I support her hobby of collecting orchids or other flowering plants. She DEFINATELY would prefer that I have an interest in animal husbandry too. I agreed to help her with the orchids... but... told her no animals at all. I made the point that the cost of maintaining healthy pets is both expensive and time consuming (feeding, walking, vet visits etc...) So we agreed to distantly admire each others preferred pastimes... orchids and model trains. However... I do recall a couple of instances where there were some interesting comments which may be considered a 'swipe' at model railroading. I once ran a consist of Kato F3 Espee black widows with several Intermountain boxcars I had recently built from kits and some other assorted cars. For some reason... there was a derail on a curved grade and the F3's and several boxcars fell to an early death onto the tile floor. She happened to have seen the horror on my face and subsequent 'search and rescue' for body parts. I guess she remembered my comments on NO ANIMALS... and stated... A cat would have survived that fall 10 out of 10 times! Being a relative calm person (HAH)... I reminded her that her orchid pots would have broken had they fallen onto the tile floor as well. She stated that perhaps I should have padded the walls and floors throughout the train room... but a straight-jacket would be optional! Hmmm... not a bad idea... !!! That's how we maintained out 34 year marriage... which happens to be the same amount of time I've been in N scale.
My wife is the one that suggested I get back into model railroading about 1973 after she saw how much enjoyment I was having at my parents' home with the American Flyer trains I have had since my childhood. I was a very poor graduate student at the time. Bought an Atlas set with a 2-8-2 locomotive and joined a local n-scale club. I do not hunt, fish, golf or watch sports on TV, so she knows where I am when I am enjoying this hobby.
In my second marriage we both owned our own houses. She didn't like where I lived so the trains stayed there. Lukemia took her in '01 and I now live in an apartment so, it's the landlords assistant that has control. Do to health and financial conditions I currently don't have a layout. Just two steamers and some cars.
I had HO as a youngster, and after marriage my trains pretty much stayed packed up during my military career. I did swap my HO for N though, and my wife did like the buildings. After the military, I had a couple half-completed layouts built with the kids. Then a couple of years ago, I accidentally ran across one of those Plymouth switchers that Bachmann makes, dressed up in Bethlehem Steel livery. My wife's dad retired from there, and she was really excited about the find, so I ordered it. And the rest is history.
my wife of 35yrs has always supported my hobby. and always likes to see detail work I do on the engines and cars. she is always on the look out for things I might like.
My wife and I have used Quicken for 20+ Years now and would be lost without it. For us, earning and spending without a budget in mind is like driving on a curvy road at night with no headlights.
My wife does quite a bit of the scenery and tackles most of the electrical gremlins plus wrestles with the DCC issues, so I'm pretty lucky.
My ex didn't get it , but spent more on designer clothes. My new partner gets it, likes my model railroad club friends, and will happily buy me railroad gifts. As both ex and present partner have to live with my massive addition to Harleys, I guess the trains seem like small beer. Fortunately , I have funds for both.
My wife supports and sometimes encourages me to purchase something. She does not get involved other than that. After 43 years we have developed our mutual interests as well as separate ones. Gary
